908 Devices Inc

Advances in High Pressure Mass Spectrometry Presented at HPLC and ASMS 2014

Technology enhancements and recent product announcement of the world’s first handheld mass spectrometer, M908, show the 908 Devices and UNC-CH collaboration bearing fruit.

Boston, MA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/23/2014 -- 908 Devices, a pioneer of purpose-built analytical devices for chemical analysis, and research partners at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) continue to make waves on the analytical event circuit with revolutionary High Pressure Mass Spectrometry (HPMS) technology. Professor J. Michael Ramsey and his team from (UNC-CH) delivered a total of 12 presentations at this year’s HPLC and ASMS conferences touting new performance breakthroughs in HPMS. These presentations demonstrate that the collaboration between the Ramsey group and 908 Devices continues to push the boundaries and capabilities of truly handheld mass spectrometry.

Numerous technology firsts were presented, including the successful demonstration of HPMS coupled with gas and liquid separation techniques, a critical milestone for applications in the life-sciences where sample matrices can be complex. With the use of an integrated capillary electrophoresis/nano-electrospray microfluidic chip the HPMS platform demonstrated rapid analysis of amino acids, peptides, and proteins. HPMS was also shown for the first time as an extremely compact and power efficient splitlessly-coupled detector for gas chromatography.

Several HPMS performance improvements presented at the conferences will have immediate benefit to the company’s first product, M908, a rugged handheld mass spectrometry platform for safety & security applications. Enhancements to stretched-length ion traps (SLIT geometries) showed significantly higher sensitivity relative to cylindrical traps and can be incorporated in the current M908 handheld system. Also of specific importance to fieldable MS is the capability to operate the system in air with no added buffer gas – which is key to minimizing logistics burden. Presentations documented advances providing sub-amu resolution at pressures more than a thousand-fold higher than conventional ion trap mass spectrometers.

“There has been a remarkable shift in demand from very complex catch-all laboratory systems to purpose-built and user-centric analytical tools” said Dr. Christopher Brown, chief technical officer and co-founder of 908 Devices. “With our partners at UNC, 908 Devices is ideally positioned in the vanguard of this movement. The torrent of advances in HPMS will immediately benefit our current safety and security customers through product enhancements and new product opportunities, and it also opens doors to completely new opportunities in environmental, life-sciences and beyond. We are beyond being ‘excited’ by the possibilities that HPMS continues to deliver on.”

The UNC-CH research team is led by Professor J. Michael Ramsey, the Minnie N. Goldby Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in UNC-CH’s College of Arts and Sciences, with additional multiple appointments in the UNC-CH School of Medicine. Prof. Ramsey is also a co-founder of 908 Devices, a member of its Board of Directors and the Science Founder of Caliper Life Sciences. 908 Devices has exclusive license to a broad portfolio of patents developed by the research team at the University that contributes to the design and manufacture of simple-to-operate, ultra-compact chemical analysis tools.

“Our technical presentations outlined many of the achievements of the team here at UNC-CH to advance the performance of high-pressure mass spectrometry,” said Prof. Ramsey. “We are focused on honing the capabilities of this truly unique technology and see a suite of practical applications for its implementation. It is equally exciting for the UNC-CH team to see 908 Devices pushing the capabilities of this technology in products that completely change the benchmarks for mass spectrometry portability and usability.”

The first revolutionary product powered by HPMS technology was announced in March 2014. The M908 weighs less than 2 kg (4.4 lbs) and is battery powered for continuous operation in the field. It has been designed to meet commercial and military standards (MIL-STD-810G); which require repeated drops onto concrete and metal, storage and operation in extreme hot and cold conditions, and ingress protection to dust and water. The patented HPMS technology that powers M908 uses diminutive ion traps that measure less than a millimeter in critical dimensions and are capable of operation at 10,000 times higher pressure than those in conventional MS systems. This enables the use of small, rugged vacuum pumps, micro ionizers, detectors and efficient electronics.

About 908 Devices
908 Devices, a pioneer in purpose-built analytical devices, is bringing the powerful capabilities of mass spectrometry out of the confines of centralized laboratories. Award winning High Pressure Mass Spectrometry™ (HPMS) technology provides the platform for compact, personalized analyzers serving a range of industries including safety and security, life sciences, oil and gas, and beyond. Founded in 2012 by a proven team of industry and technology veterans, 908 Devices is based in Boston’s Innovation District.